Peder Mørk Mønsted (Danish, 1859–1941)
By the Lake, in Fanø, Denmark, 1915
Oil on canvas
22½ × 35½ in.
Signed and dated lower left: “P. Monsted. Fano. 1915.”
Inscribed verso with title.
One of Denmark’s foremost realist painters, Peder Mørk Mønsted was celebrated for his masterful depictions of light, atmosphere, and the serenity of nature. In By the Lake, in Fanø, the artist captures a tranquil stretch of shoreline beneath a cloud-filled sky, where a soft, diffused light shimmers across still water and damp earth. The meticulous brushwork—visible in the reflections, grasses, and distant architecture—reveals Mønsted’s precise observation and his technical virtuosity. The scene conveys both a faithful record of the Danish landscape and a poetic meditation on stillness and transience.
Born in Balle near Grenaa, Denmark, Mønsted trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and studied under Peder Severin Krøyer before traveling widely through Europe and North Africa. His work reflects an academic precision balanced by a deep naturalism rooted in his Scandinavian heritage. By the early twentieth century, Mønsted had achieved international recognition for his luminous landscapes, which combined fidelity to nature with an almost spiritual reverence for its quiet beauty.
Provenance: Sotheby’s, London, February 26, 1998; Amells Konsthandel AB Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden (label verso).
